99 Things I Love Challenge

Last week I introduced what I thought would be a fun challenge, listing 99 things I love (and that you love).  Did you participate?  Did you make your own list?  I think challenges will be a new thing that we do every so often.  I’m thinking…a challenge to move 10,000 steps in one day…a challenge to spend 10 minutes in nature one day…a challenge to go outside your comfort zone one day…the possibilities are endless!  What do you think?  Ok!  Here’s my list, in no specific order:

99 Things I Love:

1. My hubby.  He is an amazing partner, is brilliantly creative, does a million things behind the scenes of Lacuna Loft, and tolerates my after 8 pm crabbiness.
2. My family.  They live far away now but I love their quirky personalities and getting together with them.
3. My oldest doggie daughter, Caya.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…that dog is my soul mate.  (Ssshhh, don’t tell my husband).
4. My youngest doggie daughter, Inca.  She’s a handful and a half but she’s made me into a more patient person, and a moderately skilled dog trainer.
5. Running Lacuna Loft.  There are many many hours spent each week running Lacuna Loft and all of its programs and I love it.
6. Working with the Lacuna Loft Board of Directors and Advisory Board.  These women are amazing.  They consistently show up and get shit done on behalf of so many program participants at Lacuna Loft.
7. Living in California.  I miss my midwestern thunderstorms and living closer to family…but the weather in Cali is great, I can go hiking right out my front door, and there is so much to do.
8. Hiking.  Being in such close proximity to great hiking has done wondrous things for my nature preferring personality.
9. Greek yogurt.  I love how creamy it is and how much protein it gives in one serving.
10. Lemon curd.  I made some homemade a few years ago when I discovered meyer lemons…omg, so good!
11. Foggy mornings.  Living in Northern California delivers a lot of fog in the mornings and I adore these moments.  Nice and cool with an almost always promise of sunshine later on.
12. My home office.  My desk at home overlooks my street and has a great view up into the Berkeley hills.
13. My wonderful yet faraway friends.  There are a few people that I still keep in very close contact with after moving to California and I love these friends so much.  They are truly a second family for me.
14. Running.  A friend and I sign up for a race about every 8 months and it always encourages me to move.  I love the challenge of running.  I love overcoming the frequent feeling that my body doesn’t work right.  I love feeling powerful in the middle of a run.
15. My fitbit.  This silly little device is awesome.  🙂
16. Home cooked meals.  I don’t like cooking very much but I get a lot of satisfaction from cooking something yummy or having someone else cook something yummy for me.
17. Take out.  🙂  There’s a vegetarian Chinese food restaurant near my apartment…yum.
18. Crossing things off my to-do list.
19. Reading.  I read a ton.  Not as much as a librarian friend of mine (you know who you are!) but still. 🙂
20. Religion.  I enjoy learning about religions, faith traditions, and the way other people find spirituality in their lives.
21. Sewing.  I taught myself to sew using a Get Quilty e-course about a year out of treatment and have never looked back.  I’ve made quilts, clothes, throw pillow covers, clutches, and more.
22. Being barefoot.
23. Hot tea.  My mother used to make me a warm cup of tea when I was up late doing homework.  I associate a lot of love with a hot mug of tea.
24. Crafting.  I also started crafting about a year after my treatments ended and I really love trying new DIYs.  I’m not always good at the first iteration not working out…but I’m working on it 😉
25. Empty beaches.
26. Living across the street from a library.  I’m there a lot and always checking out way more than I can read in a few weeks at a time.
27. Playing DnD.  I’m new to Dungeons & Dragons and it is already one of my very favorite things to do, ever.  (I’m a gnome with a boar!)
28. Television marathons.  I have Netflix and absolutely love finding a show I like and watching a ton of it at once 🙂
29. Dogs I meet on the street.  I often prefer dogs to people (sorry, everyone!  It’s really not personal!) and I love meeting new dogs as I’m out and about.
30. Sending snail mail.
31. Receiving snail mail…seriously the best.
32. Coffee with milk…I love chocolate notes in my coffee and milk, frothy or otherwise.
33. Being a Type A personality…I have come to appreciate this about myself because the alternative is being annoyed with myself a lot of the time.  Self-Love!
34. Learning to cook vegetarian meals.  I’ve been a vegetarian for several years now and it took a bit of research into figuring out proper nutrition but now it’s second nature.
35. Painted nails.  I love painting my nails…dark colors, bright colors, french tips, you name it.
36. Rice krispie treats.
37. Baking!  Pies, bars, brownies, blondies, bread, cinnamon rolls, oh my!  I love baking.
38. Watching reality shows where other people bake.  Cupcake Wars is a favorite right now but The Great British Baking Show is the absolute best.
39. Swimming.  When I haven’t gone swimming in a while I start having dreams of being in swim practice.  I adore the feeling of being in the water.
40. Getting a new pair of running shoes.
41. Getting a new swimsuit or pair of goggles.
42. Big puffy clouds.
43. Cool breezes.
44. Staying up late watching movies.
45. Going to bed early and waking up early.
46. Hanging out with other young adult cancer survivors.  It took me several years after I’d finished treatments to really interact with another survivor.  This moment was lifechanging for me.
47. My newer, California friends.  Making new friends as an adult is hard!  Slowly but surely 🙂
48. Snuggling under blankets.  Northern California offers a lot of the perfect weather for blankets.  Not too warm and not too cold.
49. Learning new things.  I have always been in a career where I learn new things absolutely every day.  This will continue to be a goal of mine and a very high priority.
50. Flannel sheets.  Nothing cozier!
51. Having photos around the house.
52. A colorful pair of sunnies.
53. Girls trips.  I go on a trip with a group of girlfriends from college and we have a blast.
54. Organizing myself with to-do lists.  If I lost my paper planner I think I would panic.
55. Space.  My education is all in Aerospace Engineering and I’m a complete space nerd.
56. Star Trek.  Probably related to the above 🙂
57. Taking long walks.
58. Donuts…I didn’t used to eat them and then I got cancer and decided life was too short to avoid donuts!
59. Loving a new haircut.
60. Book clubs.  I’m in 3 different book clubs (if we count the one here at Lacuna Loft).
61. Working with Lacuna Loft volunteers.  These young survivors are the toughest people around!
62. The smell of pine.
63. Decorating for Christmas.
64. Knowing I’ve bought someone the perfect gift.
65. Having an empty inbox…doesn’t happen very often.
66. Have a clean home…notice I haven’t added ‘cleaning’ to this list 😉
67. Biking.  I’ve started using my bike more frequently and going on bike rides with a rad group of people.
68. Writing.  Writing has always been a sort of therapy in my life.
69. Listening and singing along and dancing to music.
70. Going to concerts.  I feel so alive with the right type of music in the right moment.
71. Being married.  Seriously…so good.
72. Being a doggie mama.  These girls bring so much love and light into my life and I’m proud to be their mama.
73. Wine country.  The views, the wine, the good company.
74. Trying new things.
75. Playing board games.
76. Ice Cream…seriously my favorite food.
77. The smell of yeast.  Reminds me of my grandparents’ house growing up.
78. Being outside.
79. Traveling.
80. Speaking French.
81. Science.  I absolutely love figuring out how things work and thinking critically.
82. Getting dressed up.  My normal ‘head to work’ wardrobe is fairly informal since I live in the Bay Area (the land of jeans and t-shirts haha) but I adore getting all snazzy and dolled up.
83. Bubbly lemon water.  I drink a ton of water and I love adding fizz.
84. Teal/Turquoise.  My absolute favorite color.
85. Driving through the country, windows down, and music blaring.
86. Being in the mountains.  Between beach and mountains, the mountains are definitely my happy place.
87. Being a sister.  My little brother and I are almost a decade apart in age but he’s my favorite.  My older sister is French Canadian and I adore her.
88. Midwestern thunderstorms…where the sky darkens and those huge dark clouds show up.  Absolutely beautiful.
89. Eating breakfast…for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
90. Racing.  I enjoy having a race in the calendar to help motivate training.  It helps keep me moving.
91. A warm bath.  A warm bathroom is always nice too.
92. Talks about life.  There are certain friends who you can really delve into these conversations with and they are the best.
93. Clean laundry smells…especially sheets.  Yeeessssss
94. Paris.  My very favorite place.
95. Rooftop cocktails…there is just something special about having a fun cocktail on an outdoor rooftop.
96. Date nights.
97. People watching…as an extroverted introvert (yep…that is a real thing), I often like to zone out and people watch around me.
98. Whispy clouds
99. Picnics in parks…since I have a tripawd we can’t go for long hikes with the pups, so I love hanging out in the grass with snacks